Shingle roof



Aug. 15, 1933. R. JOHNSTON SHINGLE R0011 Original Filed July 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 1933. R. T. JOHNSTON 1,923,002

SHINGLE ROOF Original Filed July 16, 1928 2 Sheets-Sheet .2

Patented Aug. 15, 1933 1 UNITED STATES SHJNGLE ROOF Robert T. Johnston, Plainfield, N. 'J., assignor to Hyland R. Johns, New York, N.- Y.

Application Claims.

This invention relates to shingle roofs and has for its object to prolong the life and cheapen the cost of laying wood shingles having their exposed portions weatherproofed.

Ordinary tapered wood shingles are highly absorptive of water, so much so that rain which has been driven up under the butt end of the shingles and which enters the spaces between adjacent shingles, spreads and soaks through the 10 thin under upper portion of the shingle and reaches the under side of the roof in the form of moisture but does not usually do so in the form of drip unless the joints between adjacent shingles areplaced one over or nearly over the other or a split in the shingle occurs under or over ajoint.

A water tight wood shingle roof is frequently far from wind and snow tight since there is not the same ability of the roof to prevent the wind and snow blowing in and between the shingles. It is generally customary to require at least a depth of three shingles over all portions of the roof in order to prevent as far as possible leakage caused by matched joints and splits.

In use, wood shingles when laid on aroof are frequently subjected to a strain of character difficult to measure and resulting from contraction and expansion of the roof structure and from a roof sagging with age and weight. This sometimes causes a wood shingle to crack or split longitudinally and is another reason why the minimum three thicknesses of shingles are desired so that protection is obtained in case a shingle should split over the edge of the one beneath it.

Another requirement for wood shingle roofs is that the under face of the shingle must be exposed as far as possibleto assist in drying out any absorbed moisture. When not so exposed, the shingles prematurely decay on the under side where in contact with anything which tends to seal in moisture\and prevent its drying.

For this reason it is not customary to have a.

layer of sheathing paper contiguous the under surface of a wood shingle roof altho such is permissible when shingles are used on the sides of a building since there is much less tendency to absorb water or to have any moisture collected or be blown up under the shingles than is the case when they are used on a roof.

A commercial and eiiicient weather resisting wood shingle has been provided by enclosing at least vits exposed portion in an asphaltic envelope surfaced with granular wear resisting material.

1 It would. at first appear unnecessary and a July 16, 1928, Serial No. 292,983 Renewed February 16, 1933 waste of material to add a material like sheathing paper-for example, which acts to shield the shingle against moisture since the exposed portion of the shingle has already been sufliciently sealed against moisture by the asphaltic envelope. Under thisinvention use has been made of such a material in order to permit the laying of this improved shingle with a larger than customary exposed portion and with greater safety, yet in such manner that the previous inherent objections to the use of such sheathing material with wood shingles has been overcome when used on roofs.'

According to this invention a thin flexible sheathing material like asphalt impregnated paper is laid in overlapping courses parallel with the shingle courses and transversely of each shingle between shingles and under the exposed portion of each water impervious shingle.

This not only gives weather and heat resisting character to a roof laid with such shingles but is a safeguard against leakage in case a crack should occur ma shingle over the edge of the shingle next below it and when the shingles have been laid with a large exposed portion so that less than the thickness of three shingles results to a substantial part of the roof. In such case the flexible sheathing beneath a possible crack will prevent moisturefrom leaking thru the roof between the side edges of the next lower shingle course.

Referring to the drawings, Fig. 1 shows a portion of a roof embodying this invention.

Fig. 2 is an enlarged view corresponding to Fig. 1. V

Fig. 3 is a top plan view of a roof embodying this invention and illustrated in various stages of its construction.

The shingles 10 are laid in overlapping courses in the usual manner except that with an 18 inch shingle; for example, the exposed distance instead of being 6 inches or less up from the butt edge is in the illustration '7 inches, making the head lap "less than usual. (Head lap being the difference between the shingle length and twice .the length of the exposed portion).

Each shingle has its lower portion for about 9 inches from the butt edge or about half way sealed in a comparatively thin weather resistant asphaltic envelope surfaced'with customary granular slate or other wear and weather resisting material as shown at 11, whereby the shingle is reinforced against lifting and deterioration by exposure. i

The upper portion 12 0! each shingle is unno coated and the wood exposed. Extending transversely of the shingles and immediately under the exposed portion of each is stretched a flexible sheathing material such as, for example, the ordinary asphalt impregnated paper 13 or other known flexible sheathing material.

This asphaltic paper extends a little above the exposed portion of each shingle, and in the drawing this is shown as extending under the asphaltic envelope. The paper may extend under the full length of the underlying portion of each shingle since roofs laid according to the present invention are not in danger of having the" under surface of the uncoated wood prematurely decayed when in contact with the asphaltic paper because under this invention the shingles do-not absorb any substantial amount of moisture and therefore there is not the same necessity for keeping the uncoated shingles in free contact with the air, as no substantial drying is necessary. Y

.With the dimensions illustrated, it will be seen that there is a substantial portion 14 of the roof under each shingle which has a depthof only two thicknesses of shingles and not the conventional depth of three thicknesses, but this has been found ample protection with the improved shingles and asphaltic paper.

In general wood shingles are not of uniform Width and therefore the shingles shown in Fig. 3 will not usually be so uniform in width.

In the drawings the exposed portion 15 of each shingle is shown as extending seven inches above the butt edge of the shingle.

This invention permits a substantial saving in when laid with the greater than customary.

weather exposure for each shingle; also with this invention a roof of superior heat insulating qualities results because not only is'the exposed portion of each shingle a good heat insulator but the interposed asphaltic paper is an additional heat insulating medium and weather protection.

This asphaltic paper also functions in the nature of a packing to prevent wind blowing thru the roof as it could do with an ordinary wood shingle roof. Sheathing paper has been found advantageous as a sealing medium for wood shingle siding, but because it has hastened the decay of wood shingles it has not been used with this type of shingle on roofs. Wood shingles have previously been laid without any kind of sheathing, being secured directly to the furring strips. Other types of rigid shingles which do not decay, have been laid on a solid board base usually with a lining of sheathing paper between the base and the shingles. This invention provides a weather and wind proof sheathed roof in which the shingles are secured to shingle lath or furring strips illustrated in Fig.3 and which when laid cost but a fraction the expense of the continuous wood base.

The sheathing paper is of particular advantage where shingles are laid with their lateral edges matched or near the same edges of shingles in the next lower course, since otherwise rain would sometimes beat under the shingles and between the shingles of the next lower course" and through the roof, if it were notfor the paper.

The sheathing paper may be held in place by the clamping action of the shingles or in any convenient manner, as forexample, by means of the customary nails passing into the furring strips and holding the shingles in place. If the sheath- .proof imply a sufficient imperviousness to water underside.

ing paper is flush with the butt edges, as illus-v trated in the drawings, dificulty may sometimes be encountered to prevent such paper projecting beyond the butt edge and disfiguring the appearance of the roof, in whichcase it will be better to have the sheathing paper placed back from the butt edge of the overlapping shingle.

Instead of having the entire under face of the shingle coated and slated, it may be desirable to eliminate a large part of the asphalt coat by scraping the shingle while hot, say down to within a few inches of its butt edge, the butt edge being preferably left coated so as to give the thick appearance desired. The underside of the exposed portion should not absorb any water driven in from the edges. The thin fragile upper end is usually not waterproof and is of service mainly in supporting the sheathing paper. As used in the claims the terms water resistant or Water to prevent absorption of water by the shingles through the exposed face, exposed edges and In other words, the unexposed portions with which water might come in contact must also be protected by the weather resistant 10 material to prevent absorption of water into the body of the shingle. Such unexposed portions in-' clude the top face and edges for a short distance above the exposed portion, and the underside for a short distance inwardly of.the side and butt 05 edges. It is estimated that rain may be driven in from the side edges under the-shingle and on top of the sheathing material for an inch or two, and also upwardly from the butt edge for at least that amount. This is why the bottom face of the shingle must also have such portions of it as may come in contact with the rain treated to prevent absorption of water. By this definition for the terms weather resistan and "water proof they are distinguished in the present invention from paints and the natural preservatives in new cedar shingles since such materials do not prevent absorption of water by the shingle.

I claim:

1. In a roof, the combination with,non-lifting 20 tapered shingles which are weather resistant over at least their exposed face and edges, "and arranged in overlapping courses having a substantial head lap, of a flexible sheathing material between contiguous shingles under the exposed portions and extending well over the head lap of the next lower shingle course and furring strips to which said shingles are secured, said strips being spaced apart between centers, a greater distance than one third the length of a shingle and less than one half the shingle length.

2. In a roof, the combination with non-lifting, rigid, tapered, waterproof shingles arranged in overlapping courses with substantial head lap, of waterproof sheathing material extending along the courses, transversely of each shingle length, each layer of such material being arranged beneath the exposed portion of a shingle course and extending well over the head lap of r the next lower course, and furring strips on which 140 said shingles are supported and to which they are secured, said strips being spaced between centers closer than one half the shingle length, the head lap of each shingle course constituting a support for the sheathing material'which -145 extends beyond the exposed portion of the contiguous overlying shingle course.

3. A roof comprising tapered, rigid, weatherresistant shingles laid in overlapping courses interlined with sheathing paper under at least most 1 er the exposed and at least some of the underlapped portions of each course, and furring strips supporting said shingles and paper and to which said shingles and paper are secured, said strips being spaced less than one half the length of the shingles between centers.

4. A roof comprisingsubstantially rigid fibrous shingles having substantially the taper of natural wood shingles, having the exposed face, side and butt edges and at least a portion of the underside provided with -a weather resistant material, said shingles being laid in overlapping courses, and

a flexible water-proof sheathing material extending along the courses beneath the exposed portion and below the exposed side edges of adjacent shingles, each layer of sheathing extending upwardly from adjacent the butt of a superposed shingle for a substantial distance beyond the butt of a second overlying shingle, the weather resistant material being sufliciently water impervious to prevent absorption of water by the shingles through the exposed face or edges or the underside so that decay, checking and curling of the fibers is not hastened by the 25' sheathing.

5. A---roof comprising tapered wood shingles which have their exposed face, side and butt edges and at least a portion of the underside provided with a coat of weather resistant material in which is embedded finely divided mineral material, said shingles being laid in overlapping courses, and a flexible water-proof sheathing material extending along the courses beneath the exposed portion and below the exposed side edges of adjacent shingles, each layer of sheathing ROBERT T. JOHNTON. 

